This review contains spoilers
Gorgeous game with not so hard puzzles. I did really enjoy it but I found the ending and the lack of continuinity quite disappointing. At the start there's a lot of emphasis put on the fact the Etienne does not see the characters as people, and although this could be an excellent lesson in empathy and maybe on how fiction affects reality, it turns into nothing. By the third book it's already starting to feel less important to the plot and in the end, nothing is done with it at all, even though it could have all tied really nicely with his love for Amanda.
This game was a surprisingly timely lesson for me about making art. I regularly get hooked on my own ideas but disappoint myself with the execution. I don't iterate enough, I don't push away from my first thought, I don't kill my darlings.
I love the concept of this game. And while the first few missions were clumsy at best and boring at worst, there was just enough that I thought could become compelling that I didn't want to give up. They have a novel (no pun intended) hook with their main character, and the internal and external worlds he inhabits. But we waste time on mechanics that feel bad and interactions that do nothing but tell you where to click next. You only get to the fireworks factory halfway through the second act, and the game ushers you back out before you can buy anything. I don't really care, or care to guess, what decisions led to that. I don't know why they didn't push further or cut chaff. It was just sad that a spark of inventiveness and expression existed, but wasn't fed.
I finished the game and wondered, what did they want to say other than "we like this idea"? What about autonomy and oppression? What about the power of creation? Not that all art has to be Mariana-Trench-deep along every axis that one can judge art - but I want the art I consume to say something more than "I just think it's neat." I want to say more than that with the art I make.
I love the concept of this game. And while the first few missions were clumsy at best and boring at worst, there was just enough that I thought could become compelling that I didn't want to give up. They have a novel (no pun intended) hook with their main character, and the internal and external worlds he inhabits. But we waste time on mechanics that feel bad and interactions that do nothing but tell you where to click next. You only get to the fireworks factory halfway through the second act, and the game ushers you back out before you can buy anything. I don't really care, or care to guess, what decisions led to that. I don't know why they didn't push further or cut chaff. It was just sad that a spark of inventiveness and expression existed, but wasn't fed.
I finished the game and wondered, what did they want to say other than "we like this idea"? What about autonomy and oppression? What about the power of creation? Not that all art has to be Mariana-Trench-deep along every axis that one can judge art - but I want the art I consume to say something more than "I just think it's neat." I want to say more than that with the art I make.
the premise of navigating book worlds is interesting and the visuals are nice, but as of the second world, there's no real hook for the narrative, it feels overly slow, and the worlds themselves and their puzzle design just aren't that engaging. meh
Great concept and a fun ride.
Nice concept, but gets stale quick. Everything is slow as hell.
+ A rare and enjoyable modern point and click adventure game.
- The game should have ended a chapter earlier. The story would have made more sense thematically and, more importantly, the final chapter fucking suuuuuuuucks.
- The game should have ended a chapter earlier. The story would have made more sense thematically and, more importantly, the final chapter fucking suuuuuuuucks.
Lovely point & click game with some simple combat sections. I enjoyed the writing and thought the environments were beautiful. The game is fairly short and broken down linearly into levels which was great for me since it keeps things fresh throughout without being overwhelming, this is an easy game to pick up and play.
I wasn't a huge fan of the last level and ending but it's not a big deal since I really liked the rest of the game a lot.
I wasn't a huge fan of the last level and ending but it's not a big deal since I really liked the rest of the game a lot.
Not bad just repetitive- but a really intriguing environment and compelling story and central character
It's a mark of quality when a given narrative (game or no) largely trusts the reader to intuit details about the setting through experiencing the story itself. Bookwalker is one of the foremost games in memory that does this really well amidst some really intriguing premises contained within the books you 'jump' into and point-and-click adventure through. It's really a nice little package, Bookwalker, with an arching story that is melancholic but not too bleak.
Uno de los indies que más he disfrutado este año. Es una aventura narrativa de perspectiva isométrica en la que encarnamos a un biblionauta: alguien capaz de saltar dentro de un libro e interactuar con el contenido. De 10 👌🏻
The best choice if you want to play as a failed writer traveling through the fiction-worlds.
Yeah this is «Alan Wake 2» for poor gamers.
Yeah this is «Alan Wake 2» for poor gamers.
Interesting idea, but too much illusion of choice without actual choices.
I'd say The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales isn't really worth your time, unfortunately, even if you're already paying for Game Pass. It has a cool world concept and its art is nice to look at, but it's basically a walking simulator with a story that'll only barely tease you with interest before falling flat.
It has an intriguing hook. Just starting in a cramped tenement in first person, you'll likely be a bit confused as most if not all screenshots you've seen show an isometric view. Here you'll get a feel for your character, Etienne: an author who's being punished by a “writer's police” for a heinous crime. His seemingly entire life has been confiscated and he's going to be miserable for the next 30 years, the length of his bar from writing. When a criminal organization offers to remove his literal shackles and give him his life back, of course he's going to pay whatever their price is.
The price, what you'll be doing in the game, is stealing literary objects from books so that they can be “plagiarized” into other, newer books for a fee. The old book loses its value now that what's usually a key plot element has vanished from it, and it has to be taken down from shelves. It's not piracy, you're literally stealing the original item (from inside the story) so some talentless schmuck can use it in his junky novel not worthy of your bathroom's library. How that new author doesn't get caught, I don't know, but I guess it's not important. It's all Etienne can do to get back on track, and you'll want to help him do it.
But, as another reviewer here (Raxun) says, this game is a playable story. However, I deviate from their thoughts as I don't think it's one worth checking out, because the story isn't very interesting after the intro segment. A playable story is only as good as the writing, but you won't learn much more about Etienne and his story until the fifth of six chapters, and by then it's too little too late. The plot rushes to a close after what felt like several hours of stalling. It tries to be sentimental but I don't feel like it's really earned.
The game has turn-based combat that is pretty competent, but also very easy and there'll be only two fights (or sometimes only one) per chapter. It may as well not be there.
The writing of dialogue between Etienne and his sidekick, a character in a chain he names Roderick, is solid. It's believable, but I don't think it's some amazing story in dire need of viewers.
Again, I think this really is unfortunate, because there's definitely potential here. A world where the TV was never finalized and books are more heavily relied upon for entertainment, so how they're created has seen major, basically-magical changes: I'm interested! The art looks nice and the conversations feel like genuine people. But what do you do? Very little. What do you experience? The story that got you hooked basically places you in a waiting room for hours before flashing a few pictures in front of you and then tossing you out the back door.
It's a very linear experience, the dialogue choices are basically optional until you click the “right” one, so (I think) there's only one way to play the story. You can choose between two different fighting upgrades betwixt (sorry) levels, but since the combat is so sparse, I don't think the couple minutes this may barely change across hours of dialogue is worth the replay.
I remember liking Do My Best's other game, The Final Station, though truth be told I don't remember much of it. I think The Bookwalker shows promise, it just fails to see it through. I wish these guys the best on their next project and I hope they learn from this one.
I do not recommend The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales. I do recommend you read more books, we all should.
It has an intriguing hook. Just starting in a cramped tenement in first person, you'll likely be a bit confused as most if not all screenshots you've seen show an isometric view. Here you'll get a feel for your character, Etienne: an author who's being punished by a “writer's police” for a heinous crime. His seemingly entire life has been confiscated and he's going to be miserable for the next 30 years, the length of his bar from writing. When a criminal organization offers to remove his literal shackles and give him his life back, of course he's going to pay whatever their price is.
The price, what you'll be doing in the game, is stealing literary objects from books so that they can be “plagiarized” into other, newer books for a fee. The old book loses its value now that what's usually a key plot element has vanished from it, and it has to be taken down from shelves. It's not piracy, you're literally stealing the original item (from inside the story) so some talentless schmuck can use it in his junky novel not worthy of your bathroom's library. How that new author doesn't get caught, I don't know, but I guess it's not important. It's all Etienne can do to get back on track, and you'll want to help him do it.
But, as another reviewer here (Raxun) says, this game is a playable story. However, I deviate from their thoughts as I don't think it's one worth checking out, because the story isn't very interesting after the intro segment. A playable story is only as good as the writing, but you won't learn much more about Etienne and his story until the fifth of six chapters, and by then it's too little too late. The plot rushes to a close after what felt like several hours of stalling. It tries to be sentimental but I don't feel like it's really earned.
The game has turn-based combat that is pretty competent, but also very easy and there'll be only two fights (or sometimes only one) per chapter. It may as well not be there.
The writing of dialogue between Etienne and his sidekick, a character in a chain he names Roderick, is solid. It's believable, but I don't think it's some amazing story in dire need of viewers.
Again, I think this really is unfortunate, because there's definitely potential here. A world where the TV was never finalized and books are more heavily relied upon for entertainment, so how they're created has seen major, basically-magical changes: I'm interested! The art looks nice and the conversations feel like genuine people. But what do you do? Very little. What do you experience? The story that got you hooked basically places you in a waiting room for hours before flashing a few pictures in front of you and then tossing you out the back door.
It's a very linear experience, the dialogue choices are basically optional until you click the “right” one, so (I think) there's only one way to play the story. You can choose between two different fighting upgrades betwixt (sorry) levels, but since the combat is so sparse, I don't think the couple minutes this may barely change across hours of dialogue is worth the replay.
I remember liking Do My Best's other game, The Final Station, though truth be told I don't remember much of it. I think The Bookwalker shows promise, it just fails to see it through. I wish these guys the best on their next project and I hope they learn from this one.
I do not recommend The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales. I do recommend you read more books, we all should.
Pretty linear for all the options it gives you, still very enjoyable with an interesting premise.
Also looked very nice, wish I could zoom in more sometimes!
Also looked very nice, wish I could zoom in more sometimes!
Um homem de letras..
Jogão, historia muito boa joguei no game pass, não esperava nada e me surpreendeu
Очень крутая концепция и мир игры, но, к сожалению, геймплей не представляет из себя хоть что-то интересное. Решаем самые простые головоломки в пределах одной-двух локаций, участвуем в пошаговых сражениях, где на всю игру всего 4 вида действий (3 атаки и 1 защита), а в перерывах читаем диалоги. Проблема в том, что и диалоги эти написано максимально просто. Проходил чисто из-за крутой атмосферы, и, в целом, если не ждать от игры чего-то невероятного, можно даже получить удовольствие.
Nossa...
Estou escrevendo essa review exatamente após terminar o jogo.
E... nossa.
Eu não sei o que dizer, esses indies que eu tenho encontrado no GamePass tem me surpreendido e muito.
Pelo que vi agora pouco esse jogo teve uns problemas no lançamento.
Supostamente não tinha tradução pro português e tinham alguns bugs chatos que impediam o progresso.
Digo abertamente que não encontrei nenhum, 0, absolutamente nada de errado.
A tradução está ótima e não encontrei nenhum bug, foi uma experiência perfeita!
Que experiência agradável. Personagens absurdamente carismáticos, cenários lindos, trilha sonora cativante, plots interessantes, não tenho nada pra reclamar, nada.
Não consigo pegar só uma qualidade pra falar sobre, é impressionante. Pro orçamento que tiveram, que se torna perceptível em certos momentos (como esconder pessoas atrás das portas quando em 1° pessoa) eles simplesmente arrasaram.
Talvez eu dê uma revisada nessa review, é que estou atônito e não estou conseguindo formular uma review muito bonitinha.
Gostei demais, demais mesmo.
Estou escrevendo essa review exatamente após terminar o jogo.
E... nossa.
Eu não sei o que dizer, esses indies que eu tenho encontrado no GamePass tem me surpreendido e muito.
Pelo que vi agora pouco esse jogo teve uns problemas no lançamento.
Supostamente não tinha tradução pro português e tinham alguns bugs chatos que impediam o progresso.
Digo abertamente que não encontrei nenhum, 0, absolutamente nada de errado.
A tradução está ótima e não encontrei nenhum bug, foi uma experiência perfeita!
Que experiência agradável. Personagens absurdamente carismáticos, cenários lindos, trilha sonora cativante, plots interessantes, não tenho nada pra reclamar, nada.
Não consigo pegar só uma qualidade pra falar sobre, é impressionante. Pro orçamento que tiveram, que se torna perceptível em certos momentos (como esconder pessoas atrás das portas quando em 1° pessoa) eles simplesmente arrasaram.
Talvez eu dê uma revisada nessa review, é que estou atônito e não estou conseguindo formular uma review muito bonitinha.
Gostei demais, demais mesmo.
o jogo é interessante, talvez se não fosse point click ele seria melhor
A beautiful and pretty original narrative game. It's not long or difficult, but the story is nice and compelling, and the writing makes you feel emotionally attached to the characters, which is good in a game like this. It has some tactical Rpg mechanics, with some gameplay that remind a point and click, mixed with some first person view. It's a nice ride, a beautiful indie game inspired in books and literature which I didn't know anything from but which I'm really glad to have played.
Creo que intenta hacer muchas cosas y ninguna le acaba de salir bien. Principalmente es una aventura gráfica, pero siempre usas los mismos objetos en un camino super lineal. Intenta tener combates por turnos, pero son simplones y no aportan nada a la experiencia más que gastar recursos, solo poniéndose difíciles al final. Intenta que tengas una sección en primera persona, pero es sosa y un trámite. Intenta mezclarlos, pero rara vez le sale bien, está pegado con cola.
La idea está muy bien y algunos libros molan como remezclan lo clásico y lo original, pero en general me parece que si se llegan a centrar en algo en vez de intentar apuntar en todas direcciones habría sido bastante más interesante.
La idea está muy bien y algunos libros molan como remezclan lo clásico y lo original, pero en general me parece que si se llegan a centrar en algo en vez de intentar apuntar en todas direcciones habría sido bastante más interesante.
The bookwalker 7.5/10 очень классная РУССКАЯ игра, от ру разрабов. Чел путешествует по книгам и весьма довольно урчит. Всего 6 небольших рассказов, получилось что-то типа disco 🪩 Элизиум плюс вн. Игра линейная, и прикольная, так что мне понравилось за 8 часов БЕСПЛАТНО, прошел с удовольствием.
Сюжет:8/10
Геймплей:5/10 ( ну камон вн же ну, кликаешь и ахуеваешь что ли?) есть кстати боевка, но она средненькая, хотя сойдет.
Графин: 5/10 оценивать нечего
Звук 8/10 очень понравился эмбиент, прям даже ахуенный, под каждую локацию заходит будь то особняк, вечная зима или вечный песок.
Итог уже озвучил, за 8 часов самое то, если соскучился по книгам. За 500 рублей даже пожалел, что не купил, отличная игра.
Сюжет:8/10
Геймплей:5/10 ( ну камон вн же ну, кликаешь и ахуеваешь что ли?) есть кстати боевка, но она средненькая, хотя сойдет.
Графин: 5/10 оценивать нечего
Звук 8/10 очень понравился эмбиент, прям даже ахуенный, под каждую локацию заходит будь то особняк, вечная зима или вечный песок.
Итог уже озвучил, за 8 часов самое то, если соскучился по книгам. За 500 рублей даже пожалел, что не купил, отличная игра.
A cute and original isometric RPG that left you wanting something a bit more. Hopefully we get a sequel someday, that expands on the core concpets
This review contains spoilers
Listen it's a pretty good game. I like the little worlds. I thought the last one was the best execution of the premise. But the ending reveal that who was with you all along was WATSON from SHERLOCK HOLMES made me bust out laughing.
Rough around the edges but an interesting and creative game. Hard to describe but worth a try if you've got Game Pass (Currently on GP as of this review).
A little rough around the edges, but brilliant in terms of concept and self-contained metanarrative.
Que experiencia bastante entrañable.
Si eres una persona que gusta de leer y de repente le da por escribir, creo que es una obra más que bienvenida. Utiliza demasiados recursos para resaltar, pero cuando realmente va por lo simple puede llegar a golpear muy duro.
Éso si, está hasta su madre de glitches y bugs, muchos son divertidos, pero he leído que algunos te pueden corromper la partida, ir con cuidado. Pero recomiendo muchísimo está obra, por muy meloso que sea ése final, Etienne y Roderick se quedarán conmigo.
Si eres una persona que gusta de leer y de repente le da por escribir, creo que es una obra más que bienvenida. Utiliza demasiados recursos para resaltar, pero cuando realmente va por lo simple puede llegar a golpear muy duro.
Éso si, está hasta su madre de glitches y bugs, muchos son divertidos, pero he leído que algunos te pueden corromper la partida, ir con cuidado. Pero recomiendo muchísimo está obra, por muy meloso que sea ése final, Etienne y Roderick se quedarán conmigo.
This "game" or what I personally consider a playable story was more than worth the 8 hours I spent on it. The Story was well done and the characters were all very likable. The combat while fairly easy was still engaging and it was enjoyable to break up the pacing from time to time.
If you have Xbox Gamepass this is a must play, if you do not it's still worth purchasing as it seems to have replay-ability.
The concept alone was enough to have me enticed from the beginning.
If you have Xbox Gamepass this is a must play, if you do not it's still worth purchasing as it seems to have replay-ability.
The concept alone was enough to have me enticed from the beginning.
The game itself was okay, fairly straightforward and basic, but still quite interesting in itself. The story was captivating but took awhile to really get going and underway. The gameplay is just okay at best, it works, but isn't anything to write home about. Overall a fun, engaging experience with a little bit of overdone references to media, but good nonetheless.
Lo unico malo son los haters, muy buen juego y muy original.